The Government is facing strong opposition to the handout from many within the Conservative Party, as fears grow that Britain will enter a recession next week.

Last night the Chancellor raised the prospect that Britain’s economy may have shrunk over the last few months. George Osborne told the BBC that independent forecasters predict the growth figure “may well be a negative number” when it is published next week.

The IMF claims it needs an extra $500 billion (£323 bn) to $600 billion to help stricken governments, with Britain liable to pay 4.5 per cent of this, despite its worsening economic situation.

Sources close to the Treasury insisted that Britain will try to limit its additional contribution to around £8.5 billion and demand strict conditions from Europe. The Government has already got permission from Parliament to hand out up to £10 billion but could have trouble getting approval for any more. Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, warned that Europe’s economic problems would not be solved by “endlessly bubble-gumming” it together with extra money.

Peter Bone, the Conservative MP for Wellingborough, said ministers would face a “good deal of trouble” in any vote on increasing the IMF contribution.

“My view, and I think of a number of other Conservative MPs, is that enough is enough.” Britain has already committed more than £30 billion to the IMF. If Britain pays out the maximum possible amount, its total contribution will be £47.5 billion – almost £2,000 for every household in the country.

Last year David Cameron faced opposition from 30 of his backbench MPs, when he narrowly won a vote to increase contributions to the IMF.

At the time, he predicted £10 billion would be enough and later said the Government could work “within that headroom”. A Downing Street spokesman said it was premature to put a figure on extra contributions, as “no proposal from the IMF is on the table yet”. Britain has said it will give more money to the IMF only if non-European countries agree to increase their contributions.

Last night, Canada indicated that it would be unwilling to hand over its share to the IMF, because Europe has not yet given enough to help itself. Jim Flaherty, the Canadian finance minister, said Europe needs to ''make a full commitment’’.